Muggleborn
by The Lonely Assasin
Summary: Cressida grew up reading Harry Potter, so how can she possibly be expected to believe that they were all true when she was firmly told that they were not real. Besides, even if they are real, why would they even consider accepting her, she was far beyond eleven years old, yet on an ordinary summer day, an owl came out of nowhere and gave her a letter.
1. Chapter 1

**Muggleborn**

* * *

><p>"Cressida Bonnie Evans," I recited to my best mate Holly, shook her head and said, "No dude that is not your last name," I laughed and asked her, "Why can't it be my last name?" Holly widened her eyes, leaned in and lowered her voice almost to a whisper, "Haven't you ever heard of the Evans curse?"<p>

I laughed and shook my head, "The what?" Holly rolled her eyes, "The Evans curse, something bad has happened to every Evans I've ever heard of." I looked at her and rolled my eyes, "And all Evans just so happened to be related," I said sarcastically. Holly sighed and started explaining her theory.

"Back when I lived in Cokeworth, there was this lovely old couple, Rose and Harold Evans, their daughter, son-in-law and grandson all went missing without a trace. Completely gone, a few months later, they die, on the exact same night, their house ruined. The coppers said that it must've been a heart attack of some sort, but they were holding hands and Rose was holding a photo of her daughter. It was weird, and then a few years ago, Rose's other daughter, Petunia, she and her family went off the grid, like they were hiding from something... or someone." Holly finished ominously, I nodded and held back laughter, I looked at my phone.

"It's 6:47," I said, she nodded, "Well I've gotta go down to dinner, and you've gotta walk home," she said I nodded and gathered my things. We went downstairs and I said goodbye and walked out the door, as I was walking home an owl, tawny owl I think, came out of nowhere and dropped a letter on me. I picked up the letter and watched the owl fly away. I shrugged and looked at the letter, on the front there was a wax seal and I almost had a heart attack when I saw the back.

_Miss Cressida Evans_

_17 Burlington Gardens, _

_Chiswick, London_

_The Bedroom Upstairs_

W-what the bloody hell is this about!? I thought, and still, against my better judgement, I opened it.

_**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**_

_**Headmistress: Minerva McGonagall (Order of Merlin 1st class, Grand Sorc.)**_

_Dear Ms. Evans_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, please locate the enclosed list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins 1 September, we await your owl by no later than 31 July_

_Your Truly,_

**_Professor Filius Flitwick_**

**_Deputy Headmaster_**

This can't be real, I thought as I continued to the next paper.

_First Year Shopping List_

* * *

><p><strong><em>HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY<em>**

**_UNIFORM_**

_First-year students will require:_

_1. Three sets of plain work robes (black)_

_2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear_

_3. One pair of protective gloves (dragonhide or similar)_

_4. One winter cloak (black, with silver fastenings)_

_Please note that all pupil's clothes should carry name tags._

**_COURSE BOOKS_**

_All students should have a copy of each of the following:_

_The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)by Miranda Goshawk_

_A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot_

_Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling_

_A Beginner's Guide to Transfigurationby Emeric Switch_

_One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungiby Phyllida Spore_

_Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger_

_Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander_

_The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble_

**_OTHER EQUIPMENT_**

_1 wand_

_1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)_

_1 set glass or crystal phials_

_1 telescope_

_1 set brass scales_

**_Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad._**

**_PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICK_**

_Yours sincerely, _

_Professor Filius Flitwick, Deputy Headmaster_

I refused to believe that this was real, Harry Potter was a fictional story created by J.K. Rowling, I looked at the list again and saw an attached note, there were also two more lists in my envelope but I decided to read them at home, I was almost at home so I read the small note_._

_Dear Ms. Evans, We have considered the fact that we usually only take new pupils at the age of eleven, and in contradiction to that, we have decided to let you in, due to your potential. Because of this, you will need three times as many supplies (all the supplies for three of our years) a personalised schedule and a personalised Sorting Ceremony. You will catch up fairly quickly with the rest of your classmates if you work diligently and hard, your house prefects will help you. One of our professors will be over to explain everything at 7:00 sharp._

_Yours Sincerly,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Headmistress_

"No," I said out loud, Harry Potter did not exist.. but then how did I get this?

My mum nodded as I walked in the door and went into the kitchen to finish dinner. My cat Midnight jumped up on my lap and started purring I began to pet her and then heard a sound like the crack of a whip and then the doorbell rang. I checked my watch... 7:00.


	2. Chapter 2

I got up and answered the door, there was a tall man in some dark green robes with brown hair, "Hello," he said, "I'm Professor Longbottom, I'm here to explain everything to you about Hogwarts." He said

_Oh my God_

I let him in without saying anything, my mum, Jean, walked in and dropped the mug she was drinking out of when she saw him. She looked at me and smiled really sweetly, I immediatly went into the living room and sat down, I looked back and saw Mum and the man arguing, there was no way in hell the Harry Potter world was real, I mean, J.K. Rowling made it all up, right? The man appeared to have won the argument and asked, "When is Mr. Evans arriving?" Mum looked furious, "He's should be home anytime now," she said, her voice practically dripping with honey. And just like that, Dad walked in and announced his presence, his voice faltered when he saw... Professor Longbottom. Mum went back into the kitchen and brought out dinner, fried chicken and mashed potatoes and gravy.

Mum invited the Professor to dinner and he gladly agreed and sat down, I got out the dishes and set them around the table, "Would you like anything to drink? " I asked him, he looked up at me. "Umm, what do you have?" He asked, "Umm, water, milk, apple juice, grape juice and some American orange soda my cousin sent called... Fanta?," I said. I looked like he didn't know what I was talking about and told me to surprise him. I gave him some Fanta, got myself some grape juice and my parents some water, I passed out the drinks and sat down, it was really awkward and nobody was eating so I just started. Everybody else soon followed suit, I looked up at Professor Longbottom and asked him, "Soooo, is this a joke?"

Professor Longbottom looked up at me with surprise on his face, "No, why would you think that?" he asked, I went up to my room and brought down all seven books and eight movies of _Harry Potter. _"This is why, somebody named J.K. Rowling made seven books about the life of Harry Potter. If this is true then she made it as a biography disguised as fiction and that means I know who you're married to and what job you both have" I said and didn't blink as I looked into his eyes.

He smiled, "Do I have a reason to lie?," he said and my jaw dropped and I think I might have swooned a little. Professor Longbottom said in a concerned tone, "Now I know this might be a little hard to process."

I looked at him with a grin on my face, "Are you kidding me? I know everything there is that J.K. Rowling wrote about the world of Harry Potter, I know the spells, the spell books, the houses, your name, everything!" I said and started giggling. He cocked his head to the side and said, "Then please, enlighten me to just how much you know about our world," Professor Longbottom said.

"You are Neville Longbottom, Gryffindor, you are the Herbology teacher, you married Hannah Abbot, Hufflepuff, who just applied to be the matron at Hogwarts, you were in the same year as Harry and had a toad throughout your stay at Hogwarts, your uncle bought you Trevor because you turned out to have magic after all."

Neville blinked, "And by the way," I said, "you are not Professor Longbottom to me, I grew up reading about you from Harry's point of view, you are Neville to me, and there is absolutely no use to argue."

Neville just nodded, I grinned and laughed, I'd always imagined this, but here it was, "I, uh, will be back at 10:00 tomorrow morning to take you all to Diagon Alley," I simply nodded and continued giggling as Neville left.

The owl that delivered my letter returned with a roll of parchment, and length of twine, and a inked up quill, I took a closer look at the owl and found out the I was right, it was a tawny owl. I took the quill and the parchment and wrote

_How could I reject this! Of course I'm going!  
>-Cressida Evans<em>

I secured my response to the owl's leg and it flew off into the sunset, I ran upstairs and screamed into my pillow, I phoned the school I _would've _been attending and told them that I would never go there again, they seemed quite confused and I told them that I was going to be attending a prestigious boarding school in Scotland, Mrs. Portman, the receptionist, seemed happy and wished me good luck. That night I could barely sleep, seein' as how Midnight was so old she about to die, I couldn't bring her, I decided that I was going to buy a baby owl, maybe an owl egg, about to hatch so I could raise him.

In the middle of the night, I felt stab of impulsiveness and I got up and went into my bathroom, where I kept some dark blue dip dye.

You guys can imagine the rest, the very tip of each strand of my curly dark red hair is now my favorite color, dark blue, even my bangs, after that I went to bed and practically sprang out of bed in the morning. It was a Saturday so I put on a black tank top and an off-the-shoulder hot pink tee and some skinny jeans and dark blue converse. When my mum saw my hair she gave me the usual, 'Your hair is going to fall out and I'm going to laugh' speech, but when my dad walked in he smiled and said how much it brought out my hair, even more than usual. Then they started arguing and I looked at the clock, 9:45, I sighed and had some toast and tea, when I finished I heard a knock and was out of my chair like lightning and went to answer the door. It was Neville, I grinned and he raised his eye at seeing my hair, I grinned even wider and called to my mum and dad (Oh I'm so rude, Mum: Jean Angela Mott-Evans, Dad: Andrew Peter Evans) and zoomed out the door, I was shaking with anticipation.

On the ride over I was bouncing in my seat and when we got to the Leaky Cauldron, I was thoroughly impressed on how much it **didn't **look like the movie. But when we got to Diagon Alley... Oh man.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I need reviews people -Cressida**


	3. Chapter 3

**I exclusively thank all those who reviewed my story on the last chapter:**

**Guest: Thank you so much! I always need feedback, otherwise I brood and brood and eventually get paranoid and my chapters get shorter and I get less confident, it's my curse. Anyway I can tell you that later on in the story I will go into much more detail about J.K. Rowling and who she is and why she wrote Harry Potter and stuff like that.**

**Darkmatter2001: Thank you, I'm not giving any spoilers if that's what you're after! ;)**

**The goddess of the fangirls: Yes, I did redo this story, I have about 10 chapters prewritten and I and revising as I go along, hopefully for the better!**

**Anyway, Thank you all! and remember I do need reviews and feedback**

**-Cressida**

* * *

><p>I was flabbergasted, Diagon Alley, was <strong>SP<strong>**ECTACULAR, **it was the most amazing thing I had ever seen, my parents seemed to take it all in quite well and quickly (strange) while I stood there like an idiot with my mouth hanging open.

I closed my mouth and headed towards Gringotts, which was very obviously placed, it was the big marble white building at the end of the alley. Neville caught up and started to walk in front of me, when we got in Gringotts, it actually looked sort of like what it did in the movies, Neville tried to exchange some of our Muggle money but the Head Goblin refused. In a croaky old voice he said, "That one's mother is long since dead but her family still has a vault." His remark seemed final and he left Neville and my parents in the lobby while he took me out to the roller coaster like cart we would be riding in.

I let him do what he needed to do in peace because his statement troubled me, I mean, Mum was alive, she's right up there! I put it from my mind just when we jolted to a stop, there was a dinging sound and we continued on the ride which must've been going at least 150mph. When we got to my vault we passed a great chamber that looked like it had once contained a great creature, the goblin, Wren was his name, opened my vault and stood back.

"There are 29 knuts to a sickle and 17 sickles to a galleon, you'll probably need about 50 galleons for your school stuff," he said and when I smiled and thanked him he seemed surprised to be given a little common courtesy. When I turned around to look at my vault I nearly had a heart attack, there were piles and plies things in here, gold galleons, silver sickles and bronze knuts, all stacked sky high. There were also goblets and quills and swords and more money (wizarding and muggle) that I could count. I got over this and took about 150 galleons and 23 sickles, you know, just in case, he raised an eyebrow at me but said nothing, when we got back to the lobby I raised the pouch I had at Neville and assured my parents that I wasn't killed or anything and I wasn't an impostor.

After Gringotts I got all the boring things, you know, getting robes, spellbooks, and cauldrons, when we got all that I left my parents with my stuff and went to go get a wand. I walked in Ollivanders by myself and instantly felt at home, an amazingly old man came out from behind a shelf stacked with wands, immediately a measuring tape came out and started measuring me, somehow it knew I was right handed. The old man, Ollivander I'm guessing, smiled at me and mumbled, "Average height for her age and very stubborn," I looked up at him, "How did you know that?" I demanded. He smiled and pointed at my eyes, "I can see it in there,"

He plucked a wand out of its velvet cocoon and handed it to me, "Maple, 10 inches, phoenix tail feather, swishy, good for Transfiguration," he said, I didn't even have to wave it to know it was wrong, it, well, lets just say it didn't go well. Mr. Ollivander quickly plucked the wand out of my hand and gave me another one, "Oak, 13 inches, pliable, very good for charms," not right either. We tried wand after wan after wand, but when he handed me one it felt different, it was dark and had barely visible etches of vines going up and it felt like it was made for me, it was like a warmth was radiating from it but it was still cool to the touch, I smiled and waved it and everything I broke fixed themselves.

Mr. Ollivander plucked the wand out of my grasp and studied it, "Ash, 14 1/2 inches, supple, exceptional for hexes and jinxes," he said, he smiled and handed me the wand, "That will be 7 galleons please," I paid and walked out of Ollivanders with my new wand.

On my way out I bumped into a boy and we both fell over, "Oh my god I'm so sorry," I immediately apologized and picked up his stuff. "S' okay," he said and I handed him his stuff and picked up my wand, he looked up at me and I swear my heart skipped a beat. He smiled and started talking, "So I've never seen you at school before, are you a transfer or something?" He asked and I shook my head, "No, I- I'm not a transfer, I just prefer to be alone, sometimes."

He smiled and said, "Well, I'm going to change that this year, see you at school," he said and started walking away, "See you at school," I said back watched him disappear.


	4. Chapter 4

After I watched the cute boy walk away I went into _Magical Menagerie_, the only thing I was needing was a pet. There was a strict looking, eagle like man behind the counter, "Welcome to Magical Menagerie, we have a wide selection of pets to choose from, please, take your pick," he drawled, sounding bored.

I went up to the counter and asked as politely as I could, "If you have any newborn owls, I'd be happy to take one off your hands," at my politeness the man seemed to brighten up. He smiled and led me into the back, "In fact, one of our breeding owls just had some, take your pick," he said as we reached them. I looked at the five baby owls snuggling close together, one caught my eye and I picked it up. These were sooty owls, the baby I had picked up was about the size of my fist, the baby was raven black with tiny white spots and a small white heart shaped patch on it's wing.

The store owner, Mr. Blane, smiled and said, "Excellent specimen! I'm afraid she will be 13 galleons," I paid and left, holding my new owl close, Neville found me and led me out of Diagon Alley, putting me in the car with Mum and Dad. They didn't seem to happy about all this magic stuff but I didn't care, I was happier than a kid in a candy store.

The next few weeks went by like a blur, but the night of August 31 seemed to last forever, I could barely sleep, I had packed all my things weeks before and named my owl Opalescence, Opa for short. I got about 3 hours of sleep then burst out of bed at the sound of my alarm clock, after I got ready I ran downstairs and started banging around the kitchen making myself breakfast, in my excitement all I made was burnt toast, microwaved eggs and raw bacon, I calmed myself down and made a proper breakfast with some coffee.

Right as my parents woke up the doorbell rang, I answered it and found none other then Professor Neville Longbottom at my door, he asked if we needed him for anything else and I asked him to magic-proof my phone, my laptop and my headphones. He smiled and asked me how I knew about that after he magic proofed them, I gave him a '_duh'_ look and said, "I have an entire biography of the life of Harry Potter, magic and you are featured in it quite often, I know a lot about magic." he just gave me a sheepish look, did as I asked and left

At 9:50 I dragged my parents out into the car and put my trunk on the car floor and put Opa's cage next to me in the back, I had just fed Opa when I looked at my phone and saw that it was 10:39. "Come on, come on! The train leaves in 20 minutes," luckily at 10:45, we got there, they knew the Harry Potter world too so they knew that Muggles couldn't go past the barrier to 9 3/4. I said good-bye to them and launched myself at the brick wall, I waited for the moment of excruciating impact, but it never came, I looked up and saw the platform. I grinned and continued on my way.

After a few minutes of gawking I heard the 10 minute warning and I secured my trunk on the baggage car and took Opa and me to find a stall, after a few more minutes of searching, lo and behold, I found an empty one. _Finally,_Opa was too little to fly so I took her out of her cage and held her in my lap. I looked at the wizard money I had left and found I had 15 galleons, 9 sickles and 18 knuts.

After the final call to board was shouted I literally _felt _the remaining kids rush onto the train, the door to my stall opened and there stood the cute boy from Diagon Alley, a girl with ginger bushy hair and rather prominent front teeth, another ginger except he was tall, freckly, gangly, a mini version of the cute boy, only with glasses, and a short girl who looked about my age with wavy blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. The cut boy boy spotted me and grinned, "Sorry, last one left," he said and I immediately spied the lie in his eyes.

I raised my eyebrow and he cracked like an egg.

"All right, all right," he said, he gulped in a breath and said in one big exhale,_"IjustsawmyolderbrotherTeddysnoggingmycousinVictoire,"_

_Teddy Lupin_

"Oh get on with it will you!" the bushy haired girl said and shoved the boy inside the stall just as the train started moving.

I knew who they were but still let them introduce themselves out of politeness, "Rose Weasley," said the girl as she sat down and started reading Hogwarts: A History, "Albus Potter," said the 11 year old, "Fred Weasley the Second," the tall ginger said with a flourish and sat down the blonde who I had no clue was said, "Rose Summers but everyone calls me Breeze," she said and sat next to me. I turned to the last, he turned beet red and held out his hand, "James Potter, sorry I didn't introduce myself in Diagon Alley," I took his hand and shook, "S'okay," I said, "I didn't introduce myself either, Cressida Evans,"

After the shake I dropped my hand and squealed to myself, Albus leaned over and saw Opa, "Aww, what's his name," he asked, I gave him a look, "_She _is named Opalescence, Opa for short," Rose laughed and cut in, "Is that because Opa means owl?"

Me, James, and Albus looked at Rose, "No, who- who even knows that?" I said, Rose blushed furiously and returned to her book, I got out my phone, put in my headphones and started watching _The Phantom of The Opera, _Albus leaned over and furrowed his eyebrows at my phone. I simply ignored him and marveled at the fact how I was able to accept the Harry Potter world.

_Well Cressida, it's probably because you wanted to believe it was real even before you knew it was a fact, you wanted to escape into it._

I agreed with my inner monologue and put my phone away, I wasn't listening to it anyway, I felt a tug on my sleeve and looked down and saw Albus looking up at me with wide eyes. "When you were sorted did you ever worry about what house you were going to be in?" he whispered nervously. I smiled and whispered back, "You wanna know a secret?" he nodded vigorously, "I haven't been sorted either," I said and Albus seemed lost for words.

"I was just invited to Hogwarts, two years late, and, yeah I'm worrying about the house I'm going to be in, but, you know what? It doesn't matter," I said and smiled, "It doesn't matter where you get placed because it means you belong there, you'll make real friends you have stuff in common with and make bonds that will last forever, because you know you belong there."

Albus smiled and laughed, a whole bunch of tension he was apparently retaining seemed to just float out of him, It turns out Breeze was in Hufflepuff and we got on quite well, she even speculated that I might be in Hufflepuff too. I laughed and bought some stuff of the lunch trolley and eventually fell asleep with Fred trying to figure out what my phone was and how to turn it on.


	5. Chapter 5

When the train stopped in Hogsmeade Station Rose and Albus jumped up and practically sprinted off the train, I put Opa in her cage tied her cage to my trunk in the baggage car, leaving them there, knowing they'll show up in my dorm. I turned around, and surely enough, there was an obscenely old Hagrid yelling, "Firs' years, firs' years this way!" off to the side of Hagrid was a strict looking woman with a tight bun wearing emerald green robes embroidered with gold threading. I immediately pinned her as Professor McGonagall.

She saw me and headed my way, "Cressida Evans?" she asked when she saw me, although I had a strong feeling that she already knew the answer. I nodded and she gestured for me to follow her and I did, James raised an eyebrow and I smirked at him, he blushed and went on to the carriages, Professor McGonagall was explaining everything on the way to the castle and I just tuned her out, I already knew everything. The only thing I didn't know was why I got my letter when I was 13.

We rounded a corner and my jaw quite literally dropped, the movies could do nothing on _this! _Hogwarts was AMAZING! Professor McGonagall ushered me forward and I didn't have nearly enough time to look at everything before she placed next to the teachers tables in the Great Hall (which the movies nailed pretty well actually) just as Professor Flitwick brought the first years in. I dunno what happened next because I tuned them out until the Sorting Hat started to sing.

_In the days of old when Hogwarts was anew_

_When I was just a hat_

_Made from frost and dew_

_The founders had bad history_

_That they put aside_

_In the name of teaching_

_Of the stuff they had theorized_

_Gryffindor and Slytherin _

_Taught with loud banter_

_One was cunning, one was bold_

_But they were best of friends_

_And never, ever faltered_

_Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw_

_Kind, smart, and loyal_

_They never left each other's side_

_Through the trouble and the toil_

_They left great, great legacies_

_And they left me too_

_to sort you into houses_

_It's what I ought to do_

_Gryffindors are loyal and brave_

_Hufflepuffs are kind_

_Slytherins ambitious_

_and Ravenclaws are of the mind_

_I sort into these houses four_

_It's what I'm meant to do_

_I'll place where you're meant to be_

_So come on, don't be afraid_

With that, the Sorting Hat finished and everybody clapped, the hat started doing tiny little bows, then Professor Flitwick started reading off names from a long list of parchment

"Abbott, Xavier"  
>A small blonde boy poked his head out and ran up to sit on the stool, The Sorting Hat barely touched his head before he called out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" Xavier grinned and scurried down to the Hufflepuffs while they cheered.<p>

"Alderton, Chloe," a tall (for her age) brunette walked confidently to the stool and sat down, keeping her back straight, it took a total of 0.5 seconds for the Sorting Hat to decide on, "SLYTHERIN!" Chloe smiled smugly and strutted over to the Slytherin table.

"Broadmoor, Elise" a short girl with black hair and cocoa skin timidly walked to the stool and sat down while the Sorting Hat was placed on her head, "RAVENCLAW!" she looked relieved and walked down to the Ravenclaws.

I listened avidly, I know that I had read about the Sorting Ceremony before, but this was just, different.) There were two more Hufflepuffs (Carter, Mandy and Dennings, Michael) before the first Gryffindor.

"Furthen, Liam," a boy with thick brown hair and bright blue eyes scuttled up, it didn't take me long to realize that he wanted the attention, it took several minutes to decide on Gryffindor and I swear I saw him smiling like he just won the lottery as he sat down.

"Malfoy, Scorpius" I watched intently, now I don't when the last Hatstall was, but he definitely was. It took at least seven minutes, maybe more, at the end it finally called out, "GRYFFINDOR!" I covered my mouth in shock and the Gryffindor table roared while everyone else was silent in shock. After everything calmed down I swear I heard someone yell, "In your face Slytherin!"

"Mather, Daniel," I yawned but I heard, "GRYFFINDOR!"

I started to fall asleep and only became interested when I heard, "Potter, Albus," and, "Weasley, Rose,"

Unsurprisingly, they both got Gryffindor. All four houses all got at least 10 new students, I became drowsy and didn't hear anything until I heard my name.

"Everyone, this is Cressida Evans, we have a... special program for her, you see, she is more powerful than most of the students 2 years older than her, but she has never been to Hogwarts before." a murmur passed through the people and they looked up at am and I stared back at them, "The only problem with her admission is that she will have to do 3 times everyone else's normal work."

Ravenclaws looked like they would die for that and everyone else looked like they would die if they had to do that. "Now, she has to be sorted."

Now _that_ got me nervous, I sat on the stool while the hat was placed on my head.

**Now, now, what do we have here?**

_umm, you have me_

_**Do I?**_

_Nooo, I'm totally an imposter_

**Ah, sarcasm, then you wouldn't be in Hufflepuff**

_Who said I wasn't nice!?_

**Lets see here, plenty of ambitions, you certainly aim high**

_And proud of it_

**Extremely intelligent, very interesting ideas and theories**

_Thank you_

**Now you would do well in all of the houses I believe, but I have one question**

_What's that?_

**If you were in mortal peril with your best friend and a complete stranger, what would you do?**

_I would distract the danger long enough to get us all out alive_

**And if you were unable?**

_..._

**Well?**

_I would make sure that my best friend and the stranger got out alive, no matter what happened to me_

**Well well well, I believe I have made my decision**

"GRYFFINDOR!"

There weren't as many claps, but I didn't care, I walked down and sat with my house, I ate and tuned everybody out, until I felt a hand on my shoulder, I looked up, and whadda ya know, James Potter. "So, that's why I've never seen you before," he said and smirked, I nodded and saw everybody get up to leave, James led me to Gryffindor Tower and told me the password I smiled and went to bed. This is going to be a long year.

* * *

><p><strong>What did you guys think? I know that I did a rotten job on the Sorting Hat Song, but anyways, what did you think?<strong>

**-Cressida**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the extra long wait people, but I really hope that this extra long chapter makes up for it**

* * *

><p>I woke up the next morning feeling oddly refreshed, I giggled into my palm, the weight of everything hit me, I grew up with one of the greatest wizards of all time, figuratively of course, but still. I quickly put on my school robes and went down to breakfast, I was one of the first people there and I had no friends so I just sat down and started making a bacon sandwich.<p>

"Whatcha doing?" James asked as he sat down, I raised my eyebrows in a 'duh' sort of expression and ignored him, "I never really liked bacon," he said, I whirled around and smacked him across the face.

"Don't you dare disrespect bacon!" I commanded, the people around were staring and some even scooted away but I didn't care, he disrespected bacon! "What's up?" Fred said as he plopped down next to James, James turned to talk to him when Fred burst out laughing.

"What's so funny!" James demanded

"The... entire... side.. of your.. face.. is.. red!" Fred got out through fits of laughter, I shifted and saw that it was true, the entire left side of James's face was a bright red with an even brighter hand mark in the middle.

I felt a flash of satisfaction that ended when the stern voice of Professor McGonagall came up to the third years to pass out course schedules, "Miss Finnigan, yes you Melinda, here you are, and, let's see, Mr. Weasley, Mr. Potter, and Miss Evans, there's some things that you should know about your schedule."

I simply nodded and let her continue, "During the week you will spend your days with the rest of the third years, however, you will NOT have weekends or holidays off, during these times, you will be taking remedial Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, History of Magic, and, if you wish, Flying."

"I would like to take Flying, thank you," I said, I didn't care how much work I had to do, I WAS AT HOGWARTS!

"I'm not quite finished yet, now, as a 13-year-old, you may to take on an elective, your choices are Divination, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Muggle Studies, now which would you prefer?"

"Divination," I replied almost automatically.

"Now, that will be all" Professor McGonagall said and left to finish giving out schedules, "Blimey, how are you going to manage?" James said sort of muffled, his face had started to swell.

_Well, we did hit him quite hard_

**_He deserved it!_**

"Well, I'm just going to do my work and not procrastinate," I said bluntly

"Why Divination?" Fred blurted, I turned to him, "Because it seems interesting," I said, in truth, I often had strange dreams, dreams that, when I woke up, would come true.

"Well my dad told me not to take Divination and that I would just fail at it, as he did," James said

"Needless to say, we both took it," Fred said and grinned.

I giggled and we all looked at our schedules, "NOOOOO!" James and Fred burst out unanimously, "What is it?" I said irritably, "We have double Potions first today," Fred said sadly.

"What's wrong with Potions?" I asked and thought of Horace Slughorn, but, no, surely he had to have been dead by now, "We're rubbish at it," James said morosely, "Well, you can't be that bad," I reasoned, Fred and James just exchanged dark looks.

I rolled my eyes at their childishness and continued scanning my schedule:

**Monday:**

**Double Potions 7:00 - 9:00: Professor Lyricon  
><strong>**Herbology 9:00 - 10:00: Professor Longbottom  
><strong>**Double Charms 10:00 - 12:00: Professor Flitwick**

**Lunch: 12:00 - 1:00**

**Care of Magical Creatures 1:00 - 2:00: Professor Hagrid  
>History of Magic 2:00 - 2:30: Professor Binns<br>****Protection 2:30 - 3:00: Professor Lupin**

"What's Protection?" I queried as I finished my sandwich, "It's a new class they're introducing to the third years and up, they've been planning it for a while now, you know it teaches more advanced dueling practices, it's supposed to go side by side with Defense Against the Dark Arts," Fred explained, still hung on about the Double Potions.

I sighed at them and shook my head, I gathered up my stuff as the starting bell rang and made Fred and James lead me down to the dungeon, Professor Lyricon, the new potions master, let us inside and had us sit down at our desks. She had us start brewing and Swelling Solution to see how much we retained over the holidays, "Umm, Professor Lyricon?" I asked and stuck my hand in the air, "Ah, Miss Evans is it? Well, the Swelling Solution is quite simple and even if you've never brewed a potion before you should be ok."

I nodded and got to work, in fact it was very easy, Professor Lyricon was just as talented as Snape was but maybe a bit nicer and a right lot more fair. Casting that out of my mind I focused on my Solution, I even changed the instructions a bit to what I thought would be best.

"You're putting in too many pufferfish eyes, James," I said to him, "Here, put in some more bat spleens, it'll make up for it, no! Not the dried nettles, it'll make it too thick, nobody will be able to eat it much less drink it!"

"What do you know?" James said harshly and turned away, ignoring her advice.

My potion turned out a crisp, bright blue and the exact right consistency, Professor Lyricon praised me for my potential and gave Gryffindor twenty points, making up for the points James and Fred lost.

James's potion was a much too thick and was the exact forest green color of dried nettles, it was omitting a strange purple gas that smelled of strongly of a rotten eggs.

Fred's was a the exact color of blood and every now and then made a bloodcurdling scream, I don't know how he did it, but he did.

"Now I understand what you guys meant," I commented as we headed towards the greenhouses, as luck would have it, we were feeding the Venomous Tentacula.

"I can't believe it he made us do that!" Fred huffed angrily as we left, brushing some Venomous Tentacula food off his shoulder. I, however, was red-faced and grinning.

I loved Charms, we were making kittens change colors and I succeeded on my 5th try!

"I've only seen one other student in my whole career do that!" Flitwick squeaked and ran over, bustling over my purple kitten, by the end of class Fred and James were fuming over how they were only able to change their kittens' ear.

They were glowering at me so I just told them to go ahead to lunch and that I'd catch up later, as I walked through the empty hallways with my head down bumped into someone, hard. We both toppled over and my books went everywhere, I growled and sat up, so did the person who bumped into me, I reigned in my anger and slowly began to pick up my books, when I looked up she was looking at me expectantly, "Well?" she demanded.

I furrowed my brow, "Well what?" I said, actually looking at her for the first time, she had dark brown hair, hazel eyes, pale skin, was much taller than I was and had a Slytherin scarf slung on her neck, several people flanked either side of her.

She narrowed her eyes at me, "Say your sorry,"

I raised my eyebrows at her, "Excuse me?" I said slowly. She wanted me to apologize for an accident?

"Say. Your. Sorry." replied, eyes still narrowing, I snorted, "Just try and make me!"

I tried to walk past her but she got in my way, I sidestepped but she stopped me again, "Move," I commanded.

"Just try and make me," she mimicked, I curled my fists and again tried to sidestep but again she blocked me, "Say. Sorry." She said and poked me in the chest and sent me back a bit, that's when I snapped.

I threw my fist at her face and swiped my leg across the floor, throwing her off her feet, she jumped back up and punched me in the stomach, she tried to elbow me in the face but I've been in my fair share of fights over the years, I dodged and slammed my palm against her head, sending her back several charged me but I ducked at the last second and punched upwards with both fists, sending her head over heels and onto her back, she did one of those cool little Chinese get-up moves so she was back on her feet in less than a second.

_This is going to take more than brute strength_

That was ok, I studied martial arts for years, I did a spinning back kick and got her in the chest, then I front-flipped over there and used her shoulder as a center point and flipped around it so we both fell and she broke my fall. I folded her arm back behind her back till it was in the position where I could dislocate it easily with just a little more force.

I hadn't noticed that a crowd had gathered until a voice screeched from down the hall, Professor McGonagall's voice, "Miss Evans! Miss Hawkins! Get off of her! I am severely disappointed in you point with this juvenile act of muggle dueling! 10 points from both your houses and detention for you both! 10:00 tonight at my office, no excuses!"

I jumped off of the Slytherin girl and gathered up my stuff again, I was okay with detention, I was a truant, I got detention all the time, besides, Hogwarts detention had to be better that muggle detention, right?

"Really, detention on your first day?" Breeze fell in step besides me and tut-tutted away, mumbling something about how detention could affect my career, "No it can't," I said and went into the Great Hall.

I had some chicken all alone since I couldn't find Fred or James anywhere and went out to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures when the bell rang, looking very much forward to meeting Hagrid. I was probably going to be rubbish at it like Herbology but it wouldn't stop me from enjoying it, "Come on you lot!" Hagrid was roaring from in front of his hut with some dead animal carcass slung over his shoulder.

I spied Fred and James and made a beeline for them, standing beside James as Hagrid started.

"Righ', now today we're gonna go to that fenced in pasture over there, got a treat for you today!" Hagrid said energetically.

"Hippogriffs," I said almost automatically, Fred and James both gave me this weird look as we lead the class over to the pasture, "Close," James commented when we reached the pasture, what was there took my breath away.

Over two dozen magnificent griffins stood there, snoozing in the sun, cleaning their feathers, and sharpening their claws, "Oh my god," I breathed out in awe.

"Aren't they just beautiful?" Hagrid asked proudly, "They're amazing," I replied, Hagrid looked at me with approval, "Griffins," I laughed, "And here I thought is was going to be hippogriffs."

Hagrid beamed at me before turning his attention to the class, "That's righ', griffins, raised 'em meself and they're all tame and perfectly friendly, long as you don't go provokin' em o' course, now, this lesson will be about becoming friends with animals, who wants to approach a griffin first?" he asked cheerily.

I jumped up and down and waved my arms in the air yelling, "MEE!" Hagrid chuckled, "All righ' then, come on, let's go find one that likes you.

* * *

><p><strong>HYDRA: IM SORRY I PORTRAYED YOU LIKE THAT BUT YOU"LL UNDERSTAND IN THE NEXT CHAPTER<strong>

**ok now for the usual A/N: no more chapters until I get 5 ENTIRELY NEW reviews**

**anyway hoped you lot liked it!**

**-Cressida**


	7. Chapter 7

Hagrid led me forward and we stopped in the middle of the pasture, he leaned down to tell some instructions, "Now, griffins are related to hippogriffs, bu' only just, griffins want you to look 'em in the eye and be brave, hippogriffs don' like that, but march up to one you like, look in in the eye and nod your head, if it likes you, it'll bow."

I nodded eagerly and looked around the pasture, searching for one I liked, my eyes landed on the one in the northeast corner, it had a beautiful coat of golden brown fur that somehow transitioned into white feathers for it's head, the wing were the same color as the body and it had intelligent eyes.

I marched up to it and looked it in the eye, I nodded my head, my heart started pounding but I tamped down my fear, my breathing slowed and I looked at the griffin until it dipped its head forward in a bow.

"Well done! Well done," Hagrid gushed and walked up next to me as I started petting it, I grinned at him, "Nothing to it," Hagrid smiled at me with a twinkle in his eye.

"What was your name again? Sorry you just remind a bit 'o someone I used to know,"

"Cressida Evans,"

Hagrid nodded and turned to look at the griffin, "Fine beast you picked 'ere, smartes' on 'o the lot an' very picky about who gets to pet her, this is Saffron this is," I smiled and continued to pet her.

"Saffron," I cooed, "Saffron how are you, I'm Cressida, but you can call me Crissy for short, but don't tell anyone, it'll be just between us," Saffron squawked and nuzzled my hand with affection.

Hagrid turned to the rest of the class, "Righ' now you lot saw her approach the griffin, it's your turn, come on now, don' be afraid," Fred and James shuffled up to me and watched with cautionary eyes as I smoothed down Saffron's feathers.

"Come on," I said and stepped aside, Fred stepped forward and looked at Saffron, Saffron studied Fred before bowing to him, James stepped next to Fred, Saffron didn't like that. She lunged for James, snapping her razor sharp beak at him, James tripped backwards just in time to save himself from getting sheared by Saffron. Hagrid laughed and came up, "Saffron's a bit feisty, seems she doesn't like you," James huffed and stomped away to a different griffin. leaving me and Fred rolling on the ground with laughter.

I hated History of Magic, it was by far the worst, after 5 minutes of Professor Bins' droning, I was asleep and at the end of class James shook me awake to go to Protection, which everybody was excited for, it was taught by Teddy Lupin who was also the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.

While Defense Against the Dark Arts was about the various magical creatures and wizards that might harm you and how to fight back, Protection was for protection, it taught how to counteract the evil before it even strikes. It was interesting to say the least, we just learned the basics: Shield Charms.

I grumbled as I finished my homework for the day, I really do love all my subjects so far, but I despise homework.

"How are you done?" an amazed James asked as I stowed away my ink and quills, I smirked at him, "I try," Fred narrowed his eyes at me and James turned a fierce crimson.

I ignored them and checked the time, 9:45, I had eaten much earlier because I didn't want to be late for detention with McGonagall, I made Fred lead me to her office then said good-bye to him. The girl who bumped into me in the hallway rushed up just as McGonagall stepped out, she surveyed us for a minute before walking off and motioning us to follow.

"Tonight you will both be helping Professor Sprout, she's having a hard time with some Screechsnaps," McGonagall led us to Greenhouse 4 where Professor Sprout was waiting, McGonagall left us there and strode off.

Professor Sprout led us inside and showed us the Screechsnaps, they were moving and crying, "We just need to make them happy," Professor Sprout said, "Here put the sugar on the dirt- NOT THAT MUCH! Just a little sprinkling, like so."

She lightly sprinkled some sugar on the Screehcsnap's soil, the Screechsnap cooed and quit crying, now content.

Professor Sprout left them to it to tend to some Mandrakes, just as I started doing it I heard a light "Sorry," from the other side of the room, I turned around, "What?"

The other girl sighed, "I said I'm sorry, I'm sorry I acted that way yesterday, but, I kind of had to,"

I cocked my head to the side, "Had to? How?"

She sighed, "Well, in my first year here, I was friends with this girl, Laney Podmore, she was a pureblood and in Slytherin like me but, she very nice too, she would've been in Hufflepuff if she wasn't so ambitious. She was bullied so bad simply because she was friends with some Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs, it escalated to people attacking her in the halls, even out own house prefects wouldn't help her. She eventually transferred to Beauxbatons Academy in France, I haven't seen her since, and, I'm sorry, I really do hate being snooty and mean to people, but if I don't, I don't know what will happen."

I laughed, she whipped her head towards me and narrowed her eyes, I kept on laughing, "I'm sorry," I said, wiping tears from my eyes, "but exactly how good are you at protective charms?"

She considered for a moment, "Pretty good actually,"

"And you can do some bad-ass moves, you can intimidate other students pretty easily, you don't need to do that, just be who you wanna be and do what you wanna do, and if other Slytherins don't like it, they can deal with me."

The girl smiled, "I like that," she stuck out her hand, "Hydra Hawkins,"

I took her hand and shook, "Cressida Evans,"

And like that we became friends, we talked and laughed the rest of the night while we finished our detention, we compared schedules and found out that we had at least a class a day together.

We finished early and headed back to the castle at around 11:30, "Bye Hydra," I called when she turned to go down to the dungeons, as I went up to Gryffindor Tower, I was thinking and smiled a big smile.

_I love it here_

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you all liked it, and Hydra, what do you think of my portrayal of you? and everyone remember, reviews make my day<strong>

**-Cressida**


	8. Chapter 8

The first few months of school passed by quickly and it was soon found out that I had some pre-existing knowledge of the wizarding world (now where did that come from I wonder) and they had given me the exams for the years I had missed and I passed them all, I was all done with extra work before Christmas!

And as it turned out, Hydra was really nice and inviting, though if I was having a bad day she kind of got on my nerves, seriously, she hums ALL THE FREAKING TIME, but other then that she was just an overall nice person.

About a week before Christmas, Neville passed out a roll of parchment for people to sign if they were staying over the holiday, I signed without hesitation, what happened at my house at Christmas, well you don't want to know.

Potions was my best subject, I mean, I was just amazing at it, I knew what to do with the potion without even glancing at the instructions, I was rubbish at Herbology but knew all the facts, I was good at Transfiguration too! In fact, there really wasn't anything I was terrible at, I know I sound pretentious, but I just really good at magic altogether, it was strange.

I was sick for Halloween so Christmas was going to be my first holiday at Hogwarts! On Christmas Eve there was only about half of the school in the Great Hall but there was still an amazing feast. Breeze had gone home for the holidays, so did Hydra, but Fred and James decided to stay, as did the rest of the Weasley-Potter clan.

I woke up on Christmas day with a start, I had had a terrible dream, but it was already fading from my mind as I spotted the large pile of presents at the foot of my bed, I had never gotten a Christmas present before! Well, not a good one anyway.

I was the only Gryffindor girl in my year to stay at Hogwarts so I had the dorm to myself, I squealed and pounced on the presents, I glanced at James's present and read the card first.

**Hey, hope you like it, normally these things are only available for people above 16, but seeing as my Uncle George owns the store, I was able to pull a few strings, Happy Christmas! -James**

Curious, I ripped off the wrapping paper to reveal a violent orange and purple box with a picture of a man and a woman on the deck of a ship labeled _Patented Daydream Charms._

I grinned, ever since I had read about it in Half-Blood Prince, I had wanted one, James had gotten me several and I knew that I would use them in History of Magic, Binns wouldn't notice.

I turned to Fred's present, there was no note so I just unwrapped it, it read _Snowflake Making Kit_, this wasn't a muggle one with paper, it had molds about as large as my hand, you pour snow in it and freeze it. Then you enchant it to never melt and make it levitate, then you use a special spell the kit provides and the snowflake floats around your head all day.

I laughed, this was so cool! I noticed a lumpy package and picked it up, reading the note, **Merry Christmas! I'm really hoping to meet you, Fred and James have told me so much about you! Anyway because they made you seem to be such a sweet girl I made this to keep you warm, hoping to meet you soon! -Molly Weasley (Fred and James's grandmother)**

I rolled my eyes, sweet, me? I opened the package knowing that there was a hand knitted jumper inside, I pulled out the thick wool sweater, it was a deep purple with a black C in the middle, I pulled it on over my pajamas, reveling in the warmth.

I sorted through the rest of my presents, Breeze sent me candy, LOTS of candy, I opened Hydra's present and gasped, there was a mini dragon inside, it looked oddly familiar and I made sure it didn't escape as I read the card.

**Don't freak out! I made this myself, I was watching an American movie called _How to Train Your Dragon, _ after I watched 1 and 2 I had an idea. Toothless was just such a sweet dragon I wanted one, so I worked on this for months, this is a Night Fury, the type of dragon Toothless was. A miniature one of course, he'll only grow to be about the length of an Aquafina 1 liter water bottle and his wingspan will be about twice his length, but he's exactly like he was in the movie, same color, same personality, same ability to breathe fireballs, the only differences is that he's mini and he can fly on his own. Anyway, I hope you like it. oh! and be careful, he is really, really dangerous, but if you show him that you're a friend he's a complete sweetheart. -Hydra**

I exhaled in awe and took another look at the dragon, sure enough, he looked exactly like Toothless did in the movie, he was about the length of my thumb but I could still see the razor sharp teeth. I slowly extended my hand towards him and he snarled, "Sshhh," I cooed, "I'm not going to hurt you,"

He regarded me for a moment before walking up to my hand and nuzzling it, I laughed and grinned, I had my own Night Fury, I looked down at him and decided he couldn't be named after Toothless, he might be modeled after him but he couldn't be him.

"How do you like Valkary?" I asked him, he made a happy noise and licked my hand, Valkary retracted his teeth and crawled up my arm, I laughed and headed into the common room.


	9. Chapter 9

**Kay guys, There's this story about and 11 year old girl named Hydra Hawkins, (Yes the same one in the story) Hydra The Dragon is the originator of the character and is currently writing a story called _Through The Fire And The Flames_, its only on chapter 1 right now but later on Cressida will be included, its really good and Hydra the Dragon is really nice, she also has a poll asking how Hydra and Cressida meet in her story, be sure to check it out! **

**ONTO THE STORY**

* * *

><p>I sat on my favorite squashy armchair by the fireplace and held Valkary, he was too small for me to actually do anything with, but it was still an amazing gift, knowing that the Weasley's Wildfire Whizbangs I got her weren't enough so I made a plan for her birthday which would be here in a month.<p>

"What's up?" James asked as he and Fred walked into the common room, I looked up and saw Fred rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, "How are you all up at this ungodly hour?" he demanded and I cracked up.

"What's that?" James asked, pointing to Valkary, I grinned, "A Christmas present."

Fred looked extremely jealous, "I want one!" he whined, I stuck my tongue out, "You don't get one," he narrowed his eyes at my teasing and lunged at me, I shrieked and jumped out of my seat, not caring that the rest of the common room (the Weasley-Potter clan) was watching.

Fred and I chased each other around the common room, laughing and giggling and screaming, once he stole my shoe, Valkary had enough, he flew at Fred and blew marble sized fireballs at him. Fred covered his face and ran out of the common room and up to the boys' dormitory, I fell on the floor laughing and Valkary flew back, looking impressed with himself.

James shook his head and helped me up smiling, "Let's go down to breakfast, Fred'll be down soon enough," I nodded at followed him out of the portrait hole, as we headed down to breakfast he stared pleading to see my essay on moon stones for Professor Lyricon, "No, James, you need to write your own, I've told you a million times."

"CRISSY!"

I grunted as a red-headed object charged me at full speed, successfully knocking me over, Fred got up laughing, yelled "Payback!" and sprinted into the Great Hall.

James grinned and followed him in, leaving me on the floor.

_Assholes_

I creakily got up and went into breakfast.

* * *

><p>When school started again nothing really changed, Breeze chattered animatedly next to me in Potions, Hydra and I became better friends through our detentions together, Fred, James and I still stuck together and they constantly badgered me about my good grades and their not-so-great ones. On Saturday while we were eating breakfast came and owl and a slip of paper for James, he untied it and the owl took off, I leaned over and read it over his shoulder.<p>

_James,_

_ Why don't you come down fer a bit of tea later today, right after lunch maybe? Bring Albus and Fred too,_

_ -Hagrid_

"Oh yeah, I've been meaning to go and see him," said James as he stowed away the note, Fred leaned back with his hands over his eyes, "Yeah, maybe we should, hey Crissy, you wanna come?" he asked as he spotted me picking at my crepes.

I grinned and nodded enthusiastically, "Sure, I've always wanted to meet Hagrid!" James and Fred exchanged confused looks and continued eating, I smiled and finished, ready to start the day.

After lunch James fetched Albus and we headed down to Hagrid's, me bouncing happily alongside Albus in the snow, Fred knocked on Hagrid's door and was met with a booming bark, Hagrid opened the door and smiled heartily at us.

"How are yeh? Bin waiting fer yeh, come on in, don' mind Scar," he said and pulled us all inside his one-roomed cabin, a dog that was most assuredly NOT Fang the boarhound had bounded up and jumped on James, knocking him over. It was a black great dane with white spots all over and a bright pink tongue that was currently licking James's face.

"Fred, who's this, ain't she the one who volunteered with the griffons?" Hagrid asked and gestured towards me, I felt heat rising in my face and I held my hand out to him, "Cressida," Hagrid smiled down at me and shook his gray, grizzled mane.

"No need fer nicities, let's jus' say that we're now acquainted," he said and smiled merrily, I grinned and sat down at on one of the chairs, the dog came bounding up to me and sat his head in my lap.

"Who's this?" I asked and scratched him behind the ears.

"Hmm? Oh that's Scar, had 'im fer 2 years now, 'e was a birthday present from Hermione 'e was," Hagrid said and stared making tea, Valkary flew out of my pocket and rested himself comfortably on Hagrid's shoulder. Hagrid looked at Valkary in surprise, "Now who's this?" he said curiously and stroked his thumb over Valkary's backside.

"That's Valkary, he was a Christmas present from my friend Hydra, he's not a real dragon, mind, she created him using magic somehow, I can ask her to make you one if you like," I added hastily when I spotted Hagrid's expression of longing. He immediately became brighter, "Oh, would ya? I've always wanted a dragon, ever since I was a little boy, almost had one too, 'bout 20 years ago."

I grinned and thought about Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback.

A few hours later we were trudging up through the snow again, Hagrid served us tea and treacle fudge, which glued Fred's mouth together so horribly that he was still having trouble getting it unstuck. We had a few good laughs and Albus fell on the floor, Hagrid and James had a few rounds of Exploding Snap and we all opened some Christmas crackers that were left untouched. Albus and I were now wearing annoyingly ridiculous hats, Fred had a stuffed bird perched on his shoulder and James was covered in glitter.

People stared at us at dinner but we didn't care, we laughed just as loud, smiled just as wide and held our chins just as high and we always did, Albus soon left us to return to his own friends and caused Fred to give this big leaving reception as he walked away, cheeks red.

That night in Gryffindor tower there was a party, I don't really know why but we just had this huge, major, blowout party that lasted on for several hours, James, Fred and I went and got food from the kitchens and Roxanne Weasley (Fred and James's cousin, Percy's daughter) was left in charge of the music. We came back to the wireless spouting out 'Dance the Hippogriff' by The Weird Sisters.

At around 2 in the morning, Neville came in, red in the face, "ALL RIGHT!" he called, silencing the common room, "I understand that the quidditch season's starting, and I hope that the tryouts turn out well tomorrow too, but really!? Off to bed, now," he said and started shooing people up to the dormitories.

"Why did we have the party in the first place?" I asked James as we walked up, James grinned and started to tell me but Fred beat him to it, "Quidditch tryouts are tomorrow, start of the season, we haven't had the Cup in 3 years, we really want it back."

I thought about it as I changed into my pajamas, _I think that I'd like to play Quidditch, _I thought as I drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Oh! and this is to be my last update of the year, srry, but with Christmas and everything, yeah, and im offering Christmas one-shots to people who want them, you need to create a character, choose which fandom you wish it to be and I will create a one-shot for you, about your character being born from a terrible family, discovering a way into their favorite book and finding happiness!<strong>

**With love**

**-Cressida**


End file.
